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Okay, these came in and got their initial sharpening last night. Typical factory type edge out of the box, no real danger of cutting yourself there. Anyway, a little work on the coarse carborundum to set the edge bevel, and then stropping on 220, 400, and 600 grit SiC strops got them to taking arm hair off nicely. They'll get tested this evening, and I'll have some pics tomorrow. A couple of the blades aren't completely tight in the handles, but they'll certainly be serviceable.

New Opinel "steak" knives

As stated earlier, I ordered and received 6 Opinel carbone paring knives to put to use as steak knives. They arrived with an edge similar to many mass produced knives we're familiar with. Thin stock, three-quarter tang with two rivets in the handle. Best part, the thin steel. Sat down last night and got the first edge put on these. I figure I don't need anything too fancy, as they undoubtedly will run into plates, etc. from time to time.
Stopped by the store on the way home, because I figured if I was going to test a steak knife, I needed a steak. No wimping out and using chicken or fish or pork the first time out the gate. So I picked up a ribeye with some new potatoes, and did a quick sous-vide prepartation on the steak while I went to check on things as the barn. Oven roasted the potatoes with onion and some baby bellas, and then seared the outside of the steak. Steak was nice and tender, but the knife went through like a hot knife through butter. Very large improvement over what we would think of as a steak knife, while not being something that I would be afraid of having contact with the surface of a plate(definitely not going to do that with the Rader wa-integral paring knife).
Anyway, I'm pleased, and would recommend these little Opinels to anyone looking for a good, functional steak knife.
First off, next to my Kikuichi 240 gyuto:
Then next to the Rader paring:
And finally, with supper:

Okay, these came in and got their initial sharpening last night. Typical factory type edge out of the box, no real danger of cutting yourself there. Anyway, a little work on the coarse carborundum to set the edge bevel, and then stropping on 220, 400, and 600 grit SiC strops got them to taking arm hair off nicely. They'll get tested this evening, and I'll have some pics tomorrow. A couple of the blades aren't completely tight in the handles, but they'll certainly be serviceable.

Thanks for the post & pictures Reede,food looks good.I have a couple carbon Opinels inc.# 12 wt. 4.75 blade,looks like you have some good steak knives there

Thanks for the update on the Opinel's Reede. I'd ordered a set that never came in (Amazon) so I caved the other day and bought a set of wood handled Chicago Cutlery for $17. LOL
Believe it or not they are sharp and better than the Cutco's and the Wusthof serrated set I tossed.
I'm still looking for the perfect set.

In terms of the steel I am sure there are much better options out there, but I think that at times it is easier to just whip the honing steel out of the knife block and realign some softer steel. My vote goes to sabatier, Laguiole just don't seem so great to me.